NETHERLANDS THE TEXELSTROOM (TESO)

The Texelstroom – a ship built at a cost of almost €56 million – links Den Helder on the mainland and the island of Texel in the Netherlands. TESO has sailed in this area since 1907 and has a total of 15 vessels that are used for the crossing between the island and the mainland.

The new Texelstroom has the capacity to hold 1,750 passengers and 350 passenger cars. Thanks to the innovative energy management system on board, the motor of the ship runs on CNG (compressed natural gas), instead of diesel. Furthermore, it features 700 m2 of solar panels installed on the roof and a water recycling system to flush the toilets.

Vetrotech supplied insulating glass as double-glazed units with a low-E coating. Some were processed with a special screen-print in order to protect the glued joint from UV-rays. Additionally, Vetrotech provided heated glass panes (Thermovit) for the wheelhouse – done to prevent the glass from freezing over and misting. In order to protect the people and infrastructure in the event of fire, Contraflam fire-resistant glass was installed in various applications.

The production of the panes was one of the main challenges of the project, since almost all have very unique individual diamond shapes. In total, Vetrotech has approximately 1400 m2 of glass on board of this ship project.

"The biggest challenge were the extraordinary size and the unique shapes of many of the glass panes. Kinon was able to fullfil this very complex demand with the use of a maximum of machine and processing capabilities available on site."

PROJECT STAKEHOLDERS

•    Ship owner: TESO
•    Installer: WIGO
•    Architect: C-Job / Vripack